The Bodyguard
by penpaninuSessh
Summary: A look into a guard's thoughts at the Lady Eboshi's side. Gonza POV.


Disclaimer: Penpaninu does not claim to own characters from Mononoke Hime or the title itself. Merely climb into his characters minds to tell stories.

"The Bodyguard"

A Gonza POV

The Lady Eboshi and I had come a long way. I was lucky she would grant me the opportunity for advancement, calling upon my body's large natural strength as an indication of fealty. I was as loyal as the next man, and fiercely so, for I saw my Lady as my savior, the shining blade of confidence who picked me from a rabble of peasants to stand by her side, and I would protect her even if she was so formidable, she almost certainly didn't need it.

By her side I walked, carrying her weapons and my own in time of battle, shielding her from smoke and rain with my large umbrella, guarding her very strength from being marred or tarnished by others who envied her steel.

Iron and conviction she had aplenty as she ruled Iron Town with a steady hand. Her hand was always open at the palm to her followers, kind but firm to their wants and adoration, keeping them loyal with merely a kind word. Her open hand I knew could easily turn into a fist, tightening to strangle her enemies and other dangers. My Lady was strong, but in her I saw a woman of unparalleled fear. She feared to lose all she had made, and she would sell her soul to fight to keep it, for her followers and herself.

What of the followers that would trace her footsteps into hell? I was her closest ally, her right hand man and guard, and I like to think she granted me her secrets, but more often than not she granted me her authority to wield when she was indisposed with other activities. I found this position satisfying as I could bellow and throw my weight around effectively, making the others fear me in awe at my shouts as loud as thunder. Only Toki, Kohroku's sharp-tongued wife, dared go against my authority, and she made me feel half a child under her verbal assaults.

She gave me a satisfying position of power, but it was her heart I wanted, her soft affections granted without guilt or bargains. Was my Lady capable of feeling soft emotion? Did she ever know the caress of a man? I so longed to be the one to do this for her, for after serving under her Ladyship, I could not take another woman for my own. All women compared to her Ladyship, even brave and sharp Toki, were in a completely different class of humanity.

Why should she not look at me? I am a strong man, I am tall, my shoulders are wide and my chest broad. I have all the muscles she claims men have and none of the intelligence she looks for in the women of the town. To them she talks almost at ease, though the women don't forget her status as Lady in a heartbeat. They joke and confer to her in reverent tones, mindful of the social ascension she held, but casually as they find a friend in a Lady who does things her way and not a husbands.

My Lady Eboshi has been hunted by samurai and lords alike for her hand, and position at her side. When she calls Iron town the richest land of the world, she is not exaggerating. I am no scholar, but even I know the worth of the iron we smith and collect. I also know the worth of the woman I protect day and night.

Could she not see me as merely a man, and not a lump of flesh there to take a blow meant for her? I don't know if she will. I've only seen the light and fire leave her eyes for one moment in regards to another human being, and that was for the eastern stranger Ashitaka. Damn him, and damn her for feeling soft for him. I can't keep from serving at her side. I would follow her into hell, and have done so already.

Her Ladyship needs my help more than ever now that our venture into a forest's death and hell took the use of her right arm. I carried her weapons, helped her when needed, and tried to help her learn to write with her left hand. She relied on me with ready humble ease and I tried not to let her feel weak. My Lady Eboshi can never be weak, even with the loss of a limb.

"Gonza, will you carry those accounts with me?" she asks with her soft strength. I nod and easily bundle the scrolls under one massive arm, following one step behind her to give her deference to her rank.

My lady needs me even if she knows it or not.

End for now

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Penpaninu 3/29/06


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